SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
Exhibit
Current bucket: app-logs-prod Objects: compressed JSON logs, 150 GB per month Access pattern: Days 0-30: frequent reads for troubleshooting Days 31-120: occasional reads Days 121-400: rare reads, retrieval can take hours Compliance: retain all logs for 400 days, then delete Current storage class: S3 Standard for all objects Monthly S3 bill trend: rising steadily as log volume grows
Based on the exhibit, the company stores application logs in Amazon S3 for 400 days. The logs are read heavily for the first 30 days, occasionally for the next 90 days, and very rarely after that. Retrieval after day 120 can take up to several hours, but the data must remain available until day 400. Which lifecycle policy is the most cost-effective fit?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose Option C (S3 Glacier Deep Archive) because it is the cheapest storage class, but they overlook the occasional access requirement between days 30 and 120 and the retrieval time constraints, which make S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval the correct choice for the final tier.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Transition logs to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 120 days, and expire them at 400 days.
It aligns the storage class transitions with the access patterns: S3 Standard for the first 30 days (heavy reads), S3 Standard-IA for the next 90 days (occasional reads), and S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval for the remaining period (rare access, with retrieval up to several hours acceptable). This minimizes storage costs while ensuring data availability until day 400, where lifecycle expiration removes the objects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Keep all logs in S3 Standard for 400 days and enable requester pays to reduce the company's bill.
Why it's wrong here
Requester Pays only shifts request costs to whoever accesses the object. It does not reduce the storage cost of retaining the logs for 400 days, and it is not appropriate when the company itself must retain and read the data for compliance and troubleshooting.
- ✓
Transition logs to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 120 days, and expire them at 400 days.
Why this is correct
This follows the access pattern and the retrieval-time requirement. S3 Standard fits the heavy-read period in the first 30 days. Standard-IA is a lower-cost choice for the next 90 days when access is only occasional, and Glacier Flexible Retrieval is appropriate after day 120 because the logs are rarely read and can tolerate retrieval in hours. Expiration at day 400 satisfies the retention requirement exactly.
- ✗
Transition logs directly from S3 Standard to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days and expire them at 400 days.
Why it's wrong here
Deep Archive is cheaper for very cold data, but retrieval is significantly slower than the several-hour recovery window described in the exhibit. That makes it a poor fit for the period after day 120 when the logs must still be retrievable within hours.
- ✗
Move logs to S3 Intelligent-Tiering only and disable lifecycle transitions because access is unpredictable.
Why it's wrong here
Intelligent-Tiering is most useful when access patterns are unknown or change frequently. In this scenario, the access pattern is clearly defined, so explicit lifecycle transitions are usually cheaper than paying the monitoring overhead of Intelligent-Tiering across the entire retention period.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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